TODAY IN HISTORY

927 – Death of Simeon I the Great, the first Bulgarian to be recognized as Emperor.

1120 – Richard III of Capua is anointed as Prince two weeks before his untimely death.

1153 – Malcolm IV becomes King of Scotland.

1199 – John is crowned King of England.

1644 – Manchu regent Dorgon defeats rebel leader Li Zicheng of the Shun dynasty at the Battle of Shanhai Pass, allowing the Manchus to enter and conquer the capital city of Beijing.

1703 – Tsar Peter the Great founds the city of Saint Petersburg

2005 - The King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, has been taken to hospital, overtly for tests; however, the BBC quotes an unofficial source who claims the King has water in his lungs. 

2006 - Over 70 participants in a banned gay pride parade are detained in Moscow. Amongst them are organizers and members of European Parliament. German parliamentary member Volker Beck is punched in the face and arrested by police. Moscow's mayor, Yuriy Luzhkov banned the march, saying "homosexuality is unnatural."

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TODAY IN HISTORY

844 – Battle of Clavijo: The Apostle Saint James the Greater is said to have miraculously appeared to a force of outnumberedAsturians and aided them against the forces of the Emir of Cordoba.

1430 – Siege of Compiègne: Joan of Arc is captured by the Burgundians while leading an army to relieve Compiègne.

1498 – Girolamo Savonarola is burned at the stake in Florence, Italy.

1533 – The marriage of King Henry VIII to Catherine of Aragon is declared null and void.

1568 – The Netherlands declare their independence from Spain.

 1934 – The American bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde are ambushed by police and killed in Black Lake, Louisiana.

1998 – The Good Friday Agreement is accepted in a referendum in Northern Ireland with 75% voting yes.

2002 – The "55 parties" clause of the Kyoto Protocol is reached after its ratification by Iceland.

2004 – Part of Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport's Terminal 2E collapses, killing four people and injuring three others.

2006 – Alaskan stratovolcano Mount Cleveland erupts.

2008 – The International Court of Justice (ICJ) awards Middle Rocks to Malaysia and Pedra Branca (Pulau Batu Puteh) to Singapore, ending a 29-year territorial dispute between the two countries.

2009 – Former South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun committed suicide, jumping from a 45 meter cliff known as Bueong-i Bawi in Bongha, Gimhae, South Korea.

2010 – Jamaican police begin a manhunt for drug lord Christopher Coke, after the United States requested his extradition, leading to three days of violence during which at least 73 bystanders are killed.

2013 – The Interstate 5 bridge over the Skagit River collapses in Mount Vernon, Washington.

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TODAY IN HISTORY

1194 – King Richard I of England gives Portsmouth its first Royal Charter.
1230 – William de Braose is hanged by Prince Llywelyn the Great.
1335 – Otto the Merry, Duke of Austria, becomes Duke of Carinthia.
1536 – Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, is arrested and imprisoned on charges of adultery, incest, treason and witchcraft.
1994 – A bus crashes in Gdańsk, Poland killing 32 people.
1999 – Panamanian election, 1999: Mireya Moscoso becomes the first woman to be elected President of Panama.
2000 – President Bill Clinton announces that accurate GPS access would no longer be restricted to the United States military.
2004 – Yelwa massacre ended. It began on 4 February 2004 when armed Muslims attacked the Christians of Yelwa killing more than 78 Christians including at least 48 who were worshipping inside a church compound. More than 630 nomad Muslims were killed by Christians in Nigeria
2011 – An E. coli outbreak strikes Europe, mostly in Germany, leaving more than 30 people dead and many others sick from the bacteria outbreak.
2012 – A pastel version of The Scream, by Norwegian painter Edvard Munch, sells for $120 million in a New York City auction, setting a new world record for a work of art at auction.
2013- The last known rhinoceroses in Mozambique are revealed to have been killed by poachers.
2013- Two months after his resignation, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI returns to live in Vatican City at the Mater Ecclesiae.
2013- Convicted Indian spy Sarabjit Singh dies after being attacked by fellow inmates in a Pakistani prison. He is flown home to India where the government of Punjab has declared him a martyr.

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TRAGIC: Swimmer Died Saving Girlfriend’s Life

A 21-year old swimmer, John Servati of  Tupelo, Mississipi, USA, was reportedly killed on Monday night when storm swept through the city. According to Foxnews, the student of University of Alabama was killed after a concrete wall collapsed on him while he was trying to save his girlfriend. It was gathered through Diedre Stalnakar, Tuscaloosa city spokeswoman, that the late Servati, a Dean’s list student was taking shelter in the basement of a house off the campus when a retaining wall collapsed on him.

According to a colleague of the deceased, Anna Rae Gwarjanksi, a senior swimmer at the school, who tweeted that Servati died a hero and held up a concrete wall long enough for his girlfriend to get out from under it before it collapsed again on him. Stalnaker said the tragic accident happened at a home on 22nd Avenue around 10:30 p.m. when the city was under a tornado warning. Servati was said to be pronounced dead at a Local hospital. Phillip Deaton, the captain of the school's swim team, told newsmen that "John was a hero every day, just constantly doing great things, so the fact that he did that doesn't surprise me at all." It was informed that Servati competed in three events at the southeastern conference championships last year and he was named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll.

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Abuja: Abuja witnesses another Explosion

The explosion reportedly went off at about 8pm today. Number of casualties is yet to be ascertained but a number of people have died and security officials have taken over the area.

The picture below shows some unfortunate souls who lost their lives to the bomb blast. Security and emergency response agencies have been alerted to an explosion in Nyanya on the outskirt of Abuja City. The explosion is reported to have occurred close to the scene of the last incident at Nyanya bus station.

Security agencies have cautioned people living around the area to restrict their movement and allow security personnel access to the area. The severity and degree of the explosion is yet to be confirmed.

National Emergency Management Agency and the Nigerian police are currently controlling traffic around the area.

Paramedic and ambulances have started moving victims and dead bodies to the General Hospitals around the area.

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TODAY IN HISTORY

305 – Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman Emperor.

524 – King Sigismund of Burgundy is executed at Orléans after an 8-year reign and is  succeeded by his brother Godomar.

1862 – American Civil War: The Union Army completes the Capture of New Orleans.

1863 – American Civil War: The Battle of Chancellorsville begin.

1884 – Moses Fleetwood Walker becomes the first black person to play in a professional baseball game in the United States.

1927 – The first cooked meals on a scheduled flight are introduced on an Imperial Airways flight from London to Paris.

1930 – The dwarf planet Pluto is officially named.

2009 – Same-sex marriage is legalized in Sweden.

2011 – Pope John Paul II is beatified by his successor, Pope Benedict XVI.

2011 – Barack Obama announces that Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind behind the September 11 attacks has been killed by United States special forces inAbbottabad, Pakistan. Due to the time difference between the United States and Pakistan, bin Laden was actually killed on May 2.

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PHOTONEWS : #StolenDreams Protesters On May Day In Lagos

Nigerian policemen were on hand to harass #Stolendreams protesters on May day in Lagos. The protests organized by the "Change Movement" however defied the heavy handed police officers by continuing their protests until they reached their destination at the Onikan Stadium where a Workers Day rally is underway.

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